


The Unexpected Goddess

by perdregast



Series: Infinite loop [4]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Surprises, Time Travel, infinite loop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:20:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23909101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perdregast/pseuds/perdregast
Summary: The last chapter of the Infinite Loop series is a look at the moment when it all began. Join Max on her visit to herself where we will find some answers, many more questions and a fair share of surprises.
Relationships: Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price
Series: Infinite loop [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1208007
Comments: 5
Kudos: 26





	1. Singularity

**Author's Note:**

> This is the last chapter of the Infinite Loop series. I would strongly recommend that you read the first three at the risk of finding yourself seriously lost.

**Monday, October 7th. 2013**

**Arcadia Bay, OR.**

Max woke up in a shattered state. She had not slept well for days, and to top it all off, the night before she hadn't fallen asleep until almost dawn. A month had already passed since she arrived in Arcadia Bay, and she had not yet come around with a proper plan to face Chloe. So far, her only achievement on that line of business was a superficial recon. She knew for sure that Chloe lived in Arcadia Bay, and she thought she saw Joyce across the street the week before. Max had immediately turned her head, but if it was Joyce, she surely had caught a glimpse of her.

She had played in her mind her first conversation with Chloe thousands of times. All of them ended extremely badly or worse. Either way, she had come to the conclusion that she couldn't leave it any longer.

Every day that went by made things more complicated. Now she had to apologize and explain, not only the five whole years of silence, but also why it had taken her more than a month to try to reconnect with Chloe. _I didn't know how to face you_ sounded poor enough, provided that the truth, _I was scared of you,_ wasn't any better.

With the firm resolution of facing Chloe that very same day, she rose from bed.

All her muscles protested, and her morning shower didn't do much to clear her head, either. The day passed painfully slowly.

In Math Lab, she was fighting hard not to fall asleep and by the time she began her last period, Language of Photography, she was devastated. When she applied to Blackwell, she thought it was going to be her favorite class, but Mark Jefferson had not turned out to be what she expected at all. Face-to-face he proved to be way too pompous, floating in his own ego-trip at all times.

Mr. Jefferson was giving one of his usual, over-elaborated lectures. His favorite music, apparently, was the sound of his own voice, and Max could not bear the weariness. She struggled to keep her eyes open, but it was a battle she was destined to lose.

Her eyes closed for a second. Max saved herself at the last moment by shaking her head and straightening up at her desk. She quickly looked around to check whether anyone had noticed her slip, and from the look of it, she was in the clear.

Except...

Her subconscious triggered an instant alarm. Something wasn't right, and another brief glance around just confirmed it.

Jefferson was open-mouthed, no doubt engaged in some transcendental statement, but no word was coming out of his mouth. What's more, he was completely... paralyzed? Frozen? Max didn't quite know how to describe the scene before her eyes. And not just Jefferson, all the other classmates around her were in the same, bizarre state.

Kate, looking as miserable as she had been for a few days, was staring at some point between Jefferson and the board, probably avoiding direct eye contact in a futile attempt to hide her extremely troubled face. Victoria was displaying her usual disdainful expression, no big news on that front. However, Max was stunned to discover that Victoria wasn't paying her full attention to Jefferson. The self-appointed queen of Blackwell was casting a sidelong glance to the most unsuspected person, Max herself, the epitome of social nothingness.

Checking on Kate was already high on her priorities list. The Victoria situation, on the other hand, had to be put aside for a later time. There were more pressing issues at the moment, such as fully assessing the weird situation.

Max turned her head around. The rest of the class was behaving according to the usual clichés, Nathan was minding his own, private business, the pair of jocks were struggling to keep a minimum level of attention in the face of the professor's baroque speech, and the rest followed the class as best as they could. Everyone was in a perfect standstill, a photographer's dream turned into a nightmare.

And yet what was giving her the creeps was not the uncanny sight of her frozen class. No, the most frightening part was eerie quietness outside.

What was going on?.

The cracking of the wooden door as it opened caught Max's attention and a relieved expression appeared on her face. At least she wasn't alone in that bubble. This brief relief, instead, turned into an even deeper concern upon discovering who had just entered the classroom.

Walking towards her, with a firm step, the most unexpected sight possible.

Herself.

Only, it wasn't quite exactly her. She was physically identical, down to the last freckle, and she was even wearing the same clothes, but there was something about her demeanor that dramatically set them apart. The Max walking towards her felt confident, with an aura of... maturity for lack of a better word to describe her, certainly well beyond the perpetual insecurity and self-doubt associated with her.

Max, the _new_ Max, continued to progress straight toward her while the one sitting kept staring at her, frozen, although not at the same molecular level as the rest of the class. She took a free chair and placed it in front of her doppelganger, casting an unreadable glance.

Max looked at the newcomer, expectantly. What could this other person, who was both so similar and so very different from her, possibly want?

"Hi there," Mature Max said, making a goofy hand wave.

OK, that was more like Max, the _real_ Max.

"Um..." Max wouldn't take her confused eyes off the other girl, "hello, I guess".

"Well, that's something," she replied with a half-smile.

The two girls stared at each other silently.

"You can stop doing that," said the new girl after a few moments.

"Doing what?".

"I can see you. You're pinching your leg under the desk. It's no use".

"Since this is clearly a hallucination, I think it does," she replied, accommodating herself in the chair.

"A hallucination"? Is that what you think I am?".

"As far as I know, I don't have a twin sister who also wears exactly the same clothes as I do...".

"You could say we have the same taste" she interrupted her.

"Figures… besides, this is happening," she said making a gesture with her arm encompassing the whole class "so, yes. I think you're a hallucination. I think all the stress and the lack of sleep over the last month have finally taken their toll and I've snapped".

"I'm sorry to hear that. In any case, you're wrong".

"Okay," Max replied with a skeptical look "I'm gonna humor you. I suppose I have a while before I wake up in a padded room. What exactly am I wrong about?".

"Everything," she replied with a warm smile "Look, I'm going to show you". Confident Max rose from her chair and approached Original Max's desk. Without a word, in a swift motion, she pinched her cheek.

"OUCH!" she protested by immediately covering her cheek with one hand, "That hurt".

"Sorry, but I had a point to prove. You still believe this is a hallucination?"

"Come on, gimme a break. What else could it be?" Max answered in an annoyed tone. "I'm talking to a copy of myself while everyone around us is in a standstill. I don't know about you, but this doesn't seem quite right to me".

"If you want, I can pinch you again".

"HELL, NO!". Max pushed the other girl away. The reaction was instinctive, which meant she didn't even consider what to expect. Certainly not what happened, because Max faced the most terrifying normality. The hallucination in front of her moved exactly as any girl of a similar size and weight would have done if pushed the same way. And Max felt her mass resisting the push, felt her muscles protesting the sudden exertion, and saw the other girl stagger slightly (let's be realistic here, a push from Max wasn't a big deal) and drop back into her chair.

"Who are you?" she asked in defeat.

"I am you. That said, I think that a far more interesting question would be _what is this?_ ".

" Fine," she replied with a frustrated snort "What is this?".

"This is a singularity. A unique event in space-time where the laws of physics work in a different way".

"Laws of physics?"

"Yeah, you know, gravity, time... all that stuff".

A horrified expression suddenly appeared on Max's face "Is it a meteorite? Oh, my God, it's got to be a meteorite, we're going extinct?".

Wise Max looked at her in disbelief and murmured to herself _, dog, was I really that dense?_ "No meteorites. None of that," she replied before immediately recomposing herself "This is the only point in the entire space-time fabric that I share with myself".

"Wait," Max said after a few seconds of reflection, "you really mean you're… me? Like me… me?".

"There's no other me that I'm aware of, and the fact that I'm sharing a position in space-time with myself right now is the reason this is a singularity. You see, when I created all this" she replied, imitating the same gesture encompassing the whole class made a moment before by the other girl "the first rule I established was that only one of each of us would exist. She wouldn't have wanted it any other way".

"I don't follow you at all. What do you mean you're me? and who is this _she_?"

The new Max brought her chair even closer to the other one so that their knees were practically touching and leaned over to her "What does it take to become a Goddess?".

"A Goddess… how…" she began to answer in a heavily puzzled voice "How would I know?".

"Maybe all it takes is a relentless will," she replied with an enigmatic smile.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, this isn't working and you're certainly not helping with your scientific kung fu and Goddesses whatever. Apparently I'm stuck here, but if you keep insisting that you're more than just the product of my delusional mind, I'm gonna need something else".

"Fair enough. I'm going to ask you one more question and you'll understand what this is about".

"Shoot".

"Why are you here? In Arcadia Bay, I mean".

"Oh," Max blushed at once and involuntarily moved backward on the desk "There is this photography program…"

"Remember, I am you," she interrupted her.

Max lowered her head in shame and blushed even deeper, bathing her face in crimson "If that's true, then you already know".

"I do".

"So...?".

"Just ask me straightaway. I'm not a masochist, I have no intention of torturing myself".

"Does she forgive me? Are we friends again?"

"You could say that," replied the other Max with a smirk. "You know… despite everything, I'm still amazed at how predictable I was".

"What do you mean?".

"You're standing in front of yourself, the rest of the world is frozen, and yet the first question you ask me is about Chloe".

"You claim to be me, can't come as a surprise," Max said before shrugging her shoulders.

Once again the two girls remained silent, although unlike before, they seemed to be pondering their next step.

"How about I just start from the very beginning?"

"That would be great, although, for the record, I'm still more inclined to the hallucination hypothesis".

The new Max made a grimace before nodding slightly "First things first. I am you, but a version from the future. Before you interrupt me with the obvious," she was quick to add, "I want to make it clear that this is a simplification and the reality is actually rather more complicated. That's why we look the same age, and in case you're wondering, we are _exactly_ the same age".

"All right," she replied with irony, "a simplification you say…can't wait for the whole story".

"No problem," she replied with a faintly defiant note. "It's been a month, and I still haven't had the nerve to approach Chloe".

"Stop right there". Max interrupted at once "I'm the one who hasn't dared yet, watch out for your pronouns".

"Again," she replied with a patronizing tinge "I am you, we have the same memories".

"Look... whatever," Max conceded after a few seconds of hesitation, "let's just get this over with".

"As I was saying, I'm in Arcadia Bay because of Chloe, but I still don't know how to proceed. In a very short time, I'm going to fall asleep in class and I'll have a lucid nightmare. When I wake up I'll go to the bathroom to cool off, and there Nathan Prescott will shoot a girl and kill her".

"Wow, your history has a twist. I'll give you that".

"That girl is Chloe. She's going to die in front of my eyes, ten minutes from now".

"Don't... don't say that, please".

"No need to panic, I'm the good news".

If relief could be described with a single image, this would undoubtedly be the expression that appeared on Max's face. "Yeah, I know," replied the Seasoned Max brimming with sympathy. "In any case, at first I don't recognize her, she… she has changed a lot".

"Changed? How?"

"To begin with, she is even taller, slim as always, but now she sports a punk rock style that suits her reaaally good. She dyes her hair blue and has a full sleeve tattoo".

"Oh".

...

"Max?"

"Yeah?"

"Stop drooling".

"I wasn't...".

"All those doubts I had in Seattle? How I wasn't attracted to anyone and all that? In a couple of hours or so, I'll jump in Chloe's truck, and well… let's just say I won't have any more doubts. I'm so screwed from the first moment I see her".

"She's safe," Max mumbled to herself. "She's safe".

"Priorities, of course... let's not deviate from the story. Earlier you asked me if we are friends with Chloe. We are so much more than that".

"You mean me and her…?"

New Max simply nodded "Many years after today, we go back to Blackwell because our children attend school here…...don't interrupt me," she added immediately anticipating the question "We are older, it's a very intense day, and at one point, Chloe tells me that she would sign up for a hundred more lives with me… that's when it all starts".

"What starts?".

"This," Wise Max replied, pointing alternately to her and the original, "the infinite loop that I created in order to offer Chloe what she wanted".

"But I can't… I'm nothing but a regular girl".

"No, I'm not. I've created countless parallel universes just so that Chloe and I could fall in love again".

"Sorry to disappoint you. I'm not that person. I don't have your confidence or your poise, and I'm certainly not capable of creating parallel universes".

"And once again, you're wrong. Sitting there, before it all started, I already possessed all that was required".

"And well?" Max asked, annoyed by her counterpart's intentional lack of concreteness.

"What is it that you've always wanted?"

"Be with Chloe," Max answered with immediate certainty.

"Powerful as I am, that unwavering will is my greatest power. The moment Chloe is shot, I discover that I can rewind time. That's just the beginning, my powers keep growing, evolving to accommodate my needs. I'm not going to tell you about my… our lives because you're going to live each and every one of them, just know that I honor Chloe's wish".

"You…?me…? I have powers?".

"Not yet,.hey'll trigger the second Chloe's shot".

"And we live many lives together?" Max remained in a state of partial stupor, babbling new questions and fitting each new revelation as best as she could.

"Yes, but keep this in mind, nothing is set in stone. There are no promises of glorious lives or any kind of imposition. The only choice I give Chloe is to live another life, whatever that life turns out to be. We've had wonderful lives, absolutely miserable lives and everything in between, and every time I asked her if she wanted to jump again, she said yes".

Max got up from her desk leaving the other one waiting for an answer. Without a word she circled around the class, stopping from time to time to check on some of her classmates, even poking some of them at random as if she was not yet fully convinced of the scene in front of her eyes. "I didn't sleep last night, a couple of hours at most. I had to do something about Chloe, all I expected was for us to be friends again and yet it turns out… I can't even begin to understand it. Can you imagine how I feel?".

"As a matter of fact, I do. These powers… they work in a weird way. The inner dynamics of this singularity are very complex. I am the person talking to you and at the same time, I am the person in front of me. I am creating memories every second and I remember this conversation from both sides. I can't remember beyond every second that passes, but once it does, I remember it from a long time ago… and I remember how awkward this felt".

"It's not easy for you, either".

"No, but it's wonderful. You need to understand that we're the same person. I'm the one sitting at that desk, and in the distant future, I will jump to be the one sitting here".

"The person sitting here, will be another new Max?".

"Nope. Rule number one: one Max, one Chloe. _There was no way I was going to let any part of you get lost. All Maxes and Chloes, no matter the timeline we live in, we are all the same, and no memory of us will ever be lost. No Chloe will ever be a stranger to any Max, no Max will ever be a stranger to any Chloe. None of us is left behind… not on my watch"._

"What was that? It seemed like you were reciting something from memory"

"Indeed I was. It's something I said to Chloe in one of our early lives when I was still trying to figure out what this was all about. Just so you understand, it's not as easy as just jumping in and starting over, there are a number of issues to consider. For instance, it's all about the two of us, but we're not an island. There are many people around us, children, grandchildren, friends. We can't just rewind and start over like their lives don't matter, that would be… practically mass murder, so we jump and disappear from that line while everyone else goes on with their lives, unaware that there are many other. There's also the fact that we lose our memories in every new life, I mean, living your life over and over again knowing what is going to happen at every moment is not really what you wish for, is it? become a…"

"Tourist of my own life?"

"Ha!" Future Max exclaimed. "I knew you were going to say that. Right, so we lose our memories and live our life as if it were the only one until the end, and when Chloe gets sick, my powers and my memories resurface".

"What if you get sick first or there's an accident or…"

"Oh, that thing," she answered and for a second all the security and maturity of Self-confident Max seemed to disappear as she scratched her head nervously "I don't know how you're going to take this… you see… you're basically immortal".

"Excuse me?"

"Well, I age and stuff, I never get sick though, and it's always Chloe who… time is so cruel… and as far as accidents are concerned, we were once in a plane crash and time just paused, it all happened right there, just like this, I guess. Anyway, you don't have to worry about that. When the time comes, I, that is, you, will manage. I didn't come here just to tell you what's going to happen".

"Just one more question, please," Max asked in a pleading voice.

"Yeah, sure, it's not that I want to keep you in the dark, it's just that you'll experience it in due time".

"I appreciate that, but there's one thing that worries me. You say we are losing our memories every time we jump".

"Yeah, imagine that, you're gonna fall in love with Chloe many times and each time it's gonna be like it's the first time. I assure you it never gets old".

"But what if it doesn't happen? What if she doesn't feel the same way?"

"It's as if the whole world was bathed in dim light and the two of us were two gigantic flares, inevitably attracted to each other. It's incredibly tricky to keep control over time, every minor decision of every individual can change it all, and the truth is, I can choose what moment in time we jump to, but not much else. Throughout many jumps I have encountered all kinds of scenarios: my parents or Chloe's have moved across the globe, first marriages that logically have not worked at all, even conditions that have forced us to lead a very different kind of life. There's only been one constant in all our lives, sooner or later we met, and from that moment on it's Max and Chloe for good".

"Wowsers," Max had stood with her mouth open for a period of time that bordered on the ridiculous. Happily for her, the person in front of her understood her perfectly.

"I couldn't have said it better myself… sorry for the attempted pun".

"So everything works out according to your… my plan?".

"Yes. I know it's impossible to believe while I am sitting there at my desk still thinking about what to tell Chloe".

"Chloe and me..." Max said dreamily. "What are you doing here?" she said after a few seconds lost in the vast possibilities that the future held. "I mean, so far you've only told me part of the story without elaborating too much, but I still don't understand your presence here".

Mature Max leaned in on her again and smiled. "My powers… at first, I couldn't figure them out. Why did they stay with me? Why did they keep escalating? It didn't make sense, and besides, what was special about me? I thought and thought about it until I came up with the one answer that accounted for the whole thing. The only special part about me is the endless affection I have for Chloe and the fact that these powers were so specifically engineered to fulfill Chloe's desire was the ultimate evidence. I am the source of my powers".

"I don't think I'm following you".

"Don't worry, it's only natural. In the future, I'll have a hard time understanding it too. My powers have risen to the extent that I am powerful enough to return to this point and grant myself the power to create the Infinite Loop. I would have never imagined, Max Caulfield, the unexpected Goddess".

"Is that why you're here, it happens now?"

"It's always been _now,_ " Confident Max noted, "with the side note that _now_ has a different meaning for me depending on which side of the conversation I'm on. The me sitting on the desk is living the original timeline, there is nothing before this life, and it's in this impossibly small fraction of time when I come back and grant myself these powers".

"I don't intend to play the devil's advocate, much less when you're offering me so much more than I even dare to dream, but I'm getting a pretty strong chicken-and-egg vibe here".

"I have no answers other than the fact that I'm here and I can do this. There's a number of things I don't understand yet myself, but I'll tell you this: I take the chicken and the egg…" Goddess Max made a gesture with both hands pretending to crush something, "...and bam! Chicken omelet".

Max stared at her with wide-open eyes "On crap, I'm so screwed".

"What do you mean?" the other asked, showing some concern for the first time since she made her majestic entrance.

"In the future, I'm ultra-powerful, I've lived many lives, and I'm still a dork. Chicken omelet? Are you serious? I don't think that even exists".

"It was just an image, something for you to understand that even if I don't know how, it happens anyway".

"A metaphor you mean?"

"Yeah, smartass, a metaphor and I know exactly what it is. I also know what an oxymoron is, in this first life Chloe wins an Academy Award for a script".

"Wait, what was that?"

"My lips are sealed".

"Really? You're punishing yourself?"

"One second please…" Powerful Max answered by extending her index finger in a gesture that suggested exactly the same thing as she just said "Yeah, not a big deal, I'm getting over it pretty fast. Can you feel it?".

"WILL YOU PLEASE STOP IT?"

"Sorry, I got a bit cocky. You know that thing grown-ups say about how they wish they could be young again but with the knowledge that comes with years and experience? Well, here's some of that".

"Come on, you've told me almost nothing. What knowledge or experience are you offering me? At least tell me about the award".

"The award, you say? For the script? Actually it's the third one that she wins… You'll see in due time".

"Nooooo, I'm just getting to hate my future self".

The two Maxes laughed at their own nonsense. Apparently Max wasn't changing in the distant future and that's a good thing because even though it had been said enough, it should not be forgotten that Chloe wouldn't want it any other way

"That's it? It's time now?" Original Max asked after a few brief laughs.

"Not yet. There's someone who wants to see you".

The wooden door creaked again.


	2. Fanfics

The wooden door creaked again. The noise captured Max's attention who, right away, raised her head towards the sound’s source.

Earlier, Max had faced a more confident version of herself. That particular manifestation gave her a significant shock, and yet, this amazement was destined to be short-lived because the person advancing through the class with a determined step was _the self-confidence_.

Walking towards her, in all her punk grandeur was Chloe. And by God, Lucky Max hadn't exaggerated one iota in her portrayal. Tall and slender, maybe a little too tall for Max´s short size. The same porcelain skin, the famous full-sleeve tattoo in plain sight and blue-dyed hair that further emphasized her already impossibly gorgeous eyes.

Max felt a peculiar warmth flooding her body with every stomp. Because that's what Chloe was doing. Stomping. Regular people walk, but this untamed force of nature stomped around as if she owned the whole planet—which couldn’t really be ruled out at this point.

With every step to an obvious destination, the heart of Overwhelmed Max missed a beat.

Chloe reached her desk and bent over. Lucky Max V2 only managed to emit a brief squeak before Chloe, without a word, kissed her.

This was no chaste kiss. Seemingly, Chloe was still Chloe whatever universe they were in, and of course, in her mind, the number one thing you should do when you meet a much more innocent version of your life partner is to bring her up to speed. That, translated into her particular language, meant giving her _a bit of a spoiler of the sexy times to come_ , as later in another timeline Chloe would justify herself.

This-Is-The-Best-Thing-That-Ever-Happened-In-My-Life Max would have liked to say that she melted in Chloe's kiss and both of them lost themselves in each other for what felt like an eternity... but not a chance.

She felt a tongue in her mouth exploring it with a familiarity learned throughout many lives. More than likely that tongue was capable of tying knots in things way smaller than a cherry tail. Plain Max, as expected, was clueless. Far from the reaction that herself, Chloe, and Probably-Not-A-Virgin Max would have wished for, she limited herself to do nothing and try to hide the fact that she was about to wet her panties (not in the kinky way).

Fortunately for all of those present, Max was able to keep her bladder at bay and all she had to worry about was the idiotic blissful expression she couldn't wipe off her face. "Chloeee." She intended it to resonate with hope, but there were too many issues raised around the table and it sounded more like a pathetic cry.

Chloe stared at her for a fraction of a second with a puzzled look, just the amount of time it took for a punch to land on her shoulder.

"OUCH!."

"You deserved that."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... meddle?" First-Kiss Max immediately apologized.

"No, we're the same person. It's this... cheater right here." Future Max replied.

"I don't understand."

"She just gave me my first kiss, and in the process, she's blown away what was my actual first kiss."

"Oh."

"Yeah, time travel is fucking weird like that."

"You know it wasn't a good kiss," Chloe defended herself. "Besides, let's not argue right now. I've been waiting a long time for this."

"Yeah, you're right," agreed Old Max.

"So, Maximus the first… long time no see." Chloe said with an affection-filled tinkling voice. She had toned down her emotional register from the epitome of confidence who had kissed her not a minute before. The Chloe hovering over First Max was at that moment in a mental frame closer to hers than the colossal difference of actual life experiences would suggest. "This is hella touching," she added, restating what her body language implied.

"I... I don't really know what to say," Max babbled.

"You don't have to say a thing. You created this. Dude, all this for my sorry ass… I don't really deserve..."

"Don't say that," both Maxes countered in perfect sync.

"You're so fucking unbelievable," Chloe looked at the two girls alternately with pride ."..So fucking unbelievable. Thousands of years together and you're still the same person, still thinking I'm worth the world."

"You're worth it to me," Experienced Max answered.

Max, the one living in her original timeline, was staring at the other two girls, mouth agape. "Thousands of years? How long have we been at this?"

"I just need to ask myself one simple question," her future self replied, "how much do I love Chloe?"

"It's the end of my life, and it's always the same proposition," Chloe added " _Do you want to fall in love with me again_? My answer is always the same, it's always gonna be the same because you've always been..." She left her sentence unfinished. "Okay, let's do this."

Without further explanation, Chloe went down on one knee and unceremoniously produced a crumpled piece of paper from the back pocket of her jeans.

"What are you doing?" Wise Max asked almost as shocked as the other one "Did you really bring a piece of paper with you?"

Not paying attention to her partner's inquiries, Chloe cleared her throat and gently held Max's right hand. "I'm not proposing to you. I will do so in the future many times, although many other times you will beat me to it, and let me tell you that every single time is so fucking special."

A short pause to check her notes and Chloe began with her speech, "There's a girl out there. Right now she's sitting in her truck, probably smoking. She has no idea that, in a few minutes, she's going to trigger the most incredible series of events in history. That girl is lost. She's hurt, she's angry and I assure you she has no hope for the future. Her father died, her mother remarried a fella she won't get along with for many years and yet what hurts her most is not that. Her best friend left her, she moved to a big city and she never heard from her again. Not a text or a call, and since life can always get worse, it turns out that best friend had been her secret loved one since... more or less forever. She's in a race to nowhere because deep down she knows she's screwed up for good. But her best friend, the one who bailed on her... she's something else. They're going to meet again, they're becoming friends again, and before they get through the most mind-blowing week of their lives, they're becoming partners for life. Many years from now, they are not just friends anymore, they are married, and one day, in the middle of an unplanned conversation, she'll tell her partner this little thing. It's something very simple, more a crazy wish expressed out loud than an actual prospect because that little thing is simply not possible… and you know, I've experienced it myself time and time again, and I still find it hard to believe. That best friend, my best friend, my wife, my partner in the widest possible sense, she took that wish and just made it come true."

Her voice was already breaking right from the first word, and when it came to that particular instance, she was forced to make a stop to relieve the lump in her throat. "You made it come true," she said, staring at Mousy Max. "I look at you and I know that you are not aware of the person you will become. You are so immensely powerful that you could do almost anything, but you've simply limited yourself to fulfilling my wish… and as the unassuming person that you are, you still ask me every time. Truth is, even long before you saved me in every way that's possible, I would've always said yes. Without conditions, just you and me, I would have said yes every fucking time, no matter what... All I wanted to say is that my commitment to you was born long before you became the all-powerful person you are. You were already amazing the first time we met, and even though it's already happened, I can't wait for all this to start."

Max stood up from her desk dragging Chloe towards her. "I guess that I don't need to jump into your truck to realize that my doubts have been dispelled," she said caressing her cheek with tenderness. "You can't imagine how much I've missed you."

"In fact, I can. I'm way ahead of you when it comes to knowing about you."

"She's always that much of a smartass?" Max asked her wiser counterpart wiping away the tears that were already rolling down her cheeks.

"And worse... I guess it's part of her charm. She's also stubborn as an old mule."

"Dude! I'm standing in front of the girl who's gonna break time and space for me, at least don't trash talk me."

"Come here, you two," Max said as she melted the three girls into a tight hug.

First Max's joy tears spread to the other girls, and so they cried on each other's shoulders for a good while until Chloe spoke in a nasal voice "Max…? The one who's my age, I mean."

"Yes?" she replied.

"Do you remember this thing I've told you so many times, like there's nothing sexier than going to bed with you…? Well, right now I'm having second thoughts, how about you hold the freeze a little longer and...?"

"Absolutely no fucking way."

"Come on, don't be such a buzzkill. A threesome with two Maxes? I don't think it could get any better than that... Except for a four-way with three Maxes, if you get my drift. Do you think you could make that happen?"

Young Max broke the hug and looked at the other Max. "Is she serious?"

"I'd bet on it. I also wouldn't be surprised if it was the first thing that came to her mind when I told her that I was powerful enough to come here."

She looked back at both girls somehow frightened and hunched over herself.

"You can't fool me, Maxine," Chloe patronized her.

Max turned to her more mature version in a questioning way, unable to grasp the logic involved in Chloe's argument.

"This week ahead of me is a tough one. I'm going to face some very challenging choices, and worse still, Chloe's life will be at stake. You need to understand that once her safety is in the balance there's no more arguing for me. In no time at all, I'm gonna pull off the most amazing stuff, and I'm going to do it all to keep her safe. This person full of doubts and insecurities becomes a force of nature, and when this is all over and we finally find some breathing room for the two of us… well, everything will happen at the right time. Neither too soon or too late, and when it happens, I'm the one pushing Chloe into our first intimate moments."

Shy Max blushed and hunched over herself even more.

"So don't play prude with me, you've got it in you and it just takes a couple of pushes in the right direction to unleash the beast." Chloe said.

"Not like that. Don't listen to her. It's just being with Chloe always made me feel confident and knowing that I may have lost her makes me put aside my insecurities… On the other hand, it's actually true that in other lives I've been rather straightforward regarding our sexual life."

" _Very_ straightforward, I'd say," Chloe added. "Remember that time in the cabin in Nairobi? We had just met the day before."

"Right, that was really fast. Or the one time in São Paulo? When we eloped together on the first plane in the morning, leaving my husband there."

"Yeah, I stole the trophy. Fuck him, he was so loaded, and he wouldn't even pay attention to you."

"Um… Girls. You know I'm still here, right?" Yet-To-Discover-Intimacy Max was staring at the other two with a certain discomfort, although to be honest, she was getting quickly familiar with the easygoing nature of her future self.

"Spoiler alert, sorry," Chloe apologized.

"Yep, all in due time," Weathered Max agreed.

"In all honesty, I'm looking forward to all those adventures, but as my future self has told me, everything will happen as it should. This is already a lot more than I can grasp."

"You see what I mean?" Chloe said, addressing the Max who had jumped with her. "You have to give yourself more credit. Even before it all started, you were way smarter than you remember."

Chloe ended her praise by hitting her partner's shoulder. The blow, of course, was nowhere close to strong, but after the hug, Max's bag was in an unnatural position, with the upper side facing downwards. This, along with Max's gesture when feeling the touch, caused a rectangular object, slightly smaller than an iPad, to fall out of the bag.

"Hey careful there," Chloe said amusingly.

"What's that?" asked the other Max.

"Oh, it's just Chloe's ebook."

Original Max bent down and picked up the ebook. After examining it and making sure it was in perfect condition she returned it. "I don't remember you being much of a reader when we were kids, but I assume that doesn't mean anything right now," she said, this time addressing Chloe.

"This might come as a surprise, or maybe not, but on average, it's been rather more times I've gone to college than not. Anyway, this has nothing to do with that, it's, let's say… some side project of sorts."

"Side project?"

Chloe turned to her partner. Implicit in her stare was a question that Max answered by nodding. "Yeah. All there is in the ebook is fanfics, a shitload of them. You know what a fanfic is?"

"Yes, I've read a few myself. What fandoms are you interested in?"

Chloe turned again to Max, and this time she merely smiled back. "Well, here's the thing and that's why I called it a side project… the fanfics are about us."

"Excuse me?"

"I'll explain," Max intervened. "You know Chloe's always been a real troublemaker, and with my powers and all, the opportunities for her shenanigans are almost endless. In one of our jumps, she had this idea. She had worked in the video game business in that life, so she thought, _why not make a video game about us?_ But then she got cockier and making a video game about our lives simply wasn't enough for her."

"No, it certainly wasn't," Chloe said with the same smile Max remembered from her childhood. The one she flashed whenever she had an idea that usually involved all sorts of wrongdoings.

"You know Chloe, one idea leads to another and then another and usually each one is crazier than the one before. We carefully chose a young team, in Paris, and manipulated them to create our story."

"How can you do such a thing?"

"The truth," Max continued, "is that there's a lot of trial and error involved. Once we choose the team, it's a matter of making them think it's their idea. One day a punk girl with blue dyed hair walks by on the subway. Another day a girl with a pair of converse and a photographer's bag bumps into someone else and she drops a yellow vintage Polaroid from her bag, suddenly you get spam mail talking about trips to the Pacific Northwest, or two girls on the bus talking about time travel and those girls keep calling each other by their names, Max and Chloe… there are many ways when you have an infinite amount of time and Chloe's appetite for fun."

"And that's it? that simple?"

"No, no easy at all" Chloe intervened this time "As Max said, there was a lot of trial and error. In the beginning, the story happened in Paris itself... you know what they say about people from Paris, other times Max was a guy... I don't know, a lot of stuff went in the wrong direction. We basically went back every time they didn't get an idea right and we influenced them in one way or another until it was as it should be."

"Sure it was a lot of work, for example, they decided to hire an American writer and it was hard for us to get him to write Chloe as she is, with her flowery language and her complex personality. But in the end, Chloe was right, and it was very satisfying to see the final result and people's reactions. Get this, in the game, Chloe's family wants to go to Paris, as it was in real life. Everyone assumed that since the developers were from Paris, they included that part in the game. It's actually the other way around, the developers are from Paris because Chloe's family wanted to go there in the first place. It's like the perfect joke."

"But what about you guys, I mean there is a video game that talks about you, where does that leave you? Maybe in that life, everything is not the same. There is a Max Caulfield and a Chloe Price, but what about Arcadia Bay and Blackwell and all the other people?"

"Oh no. No way. _If we do it, we do it right._ That's what Chloe told me. In that life, we went back in time, long before we were born, and joined Ezekiel Blackwell's group. They were a very religious group, so some native mumbo jumbo here, some carefully placed omens there, and boom! They skipped Overlook Park and settled somewhere South to where our town is. No Arcadia Bay anymore. That made the trick, you know. Two birds one stone, because our grand plan included, naturally, disappearing from that timeline. And since Arcadia Bay wasn't established, our ancestors didn't live there and... You get the idea, no Max and Chloe."

"Can't be."

"Oh yes. It can and it does" Max replied, "there's a world out there where Arcadia Bay doesn't exist and we're nothing more than characters in a video game."

"A world we created just for fun, and that's the world all these fanfics come from. There are all sorts of fics. Some people get the idea, others go their separate ways making strange pairings like Rachel Amber and me or Kate or Victoria with you, the latter are oddly common, by the way."

"Me and Victoria?" Max answered in surprise "Wait... Rachel Amber? She's the girl in the missing person posters, right?"

Chloe dropped her eyes for a second, tainted with sadness, only to stare at her again immediately after. "It's a long story and it's one for you to discover. Anyway, I'm about to start a new series, it's by someone called Perdregast. Probably a dick, I mean, what kind of name is that? It's come to my attention because the series is called Infinite Loop and the first book is about Max's life in Seattle and the reasons for her absolute silence. There aren't many fanfics about that."

"That's true. And I'm surprised because that's one of the things we couldn't get the developers to make right, and in the end they just elected to perform a big ellipsis on the subject. I very much doubt that he or she got it right."

"You bet," Chloe cheered "who could come up with something like your first date? Or my proposal amidst an argument with George Clooney? Not to mention the time you puked on your parents. And for the record, I'd put all my money on Perdregast being a he. A girl wouldn't choose such a crappy name."

"Whatever," Seasoned Max replied. "Tell me whether you like the fics or not when you get to read them."

Prime Max stared at the two girls with an annoyed expression of conformity "My first date or the puking incident part of my black legend, but there is no way you're gonna tell me about the George Clooney part, right?"

"Nope," answered the two time travelers at once.

"Yeah, thanks for nothing. At least I know that time is on my side. So... what happens now? There's some kind of ritual or something?"

"Not really, I just have to lay a finger on me."

"Wow, that's just it…? It's a bit of a bummer. I was expecting something big... I don't know, weird lights or realities overlapping before my eyes."

"I don't need any of that."

"Let's get to it, then."

"Wait, it's not that easy."

"Here we go. The small print, of course."

Mighty Max smiled playfully at her younger self. "Don't worry, everything is under control. Simply, my brain needs to get used to it. I will receive an immense power. I will have to remember many lives… It's just too much to handle all at once. The brain is an amazing organ and just as some people have an almost supernatural intelligence while others are unable to grasp even the most basic concepts, my brain will go beyond any known boundary. But it's not ready yet, it needs some time to embrace that immense capacity and even after. Still, it's better to use my power just for the jump. I have already taken care of that and have come up with the best possible solution. But the issue of this first life remains because you will be aware of your powers at all times."

"And how I'm supposed to know I shouldn't use them? The logical thing is that I'm inclined to use those powers."

"I'll have to create some kind of signal indicating that maybe it's a good idea not to use them. I don't know, can you come up with something?"

Max frowned thoughtfully a few moments. "Wait. It's already happened. You're cheating."

"I got it right away. Congratulations to myself from the past. However, in this, I'm not so sure that I'm not back at the chicken and the egg thing. I clearly know what the signal is, but I'm not sure if I'm helping me to choose it or if it is my idea completely from the start."

"Puff, what a mess," Max replied with displeasure. "Let's do some brainstorming then. It has to be something to do with Chloe. We agree on that, don't we?"

"I am 120% in agreement with myself."

"And it has to be something that's unpleasant, right?"

"No, not exactly like that. It has to be something that forces me to believe that, if I use my powers, she'll be in trouble. That's the only thing that will keep me from using them no matter what the cost is. I can take care of the inner workings, for now, it's just the signal."

"But you know what it is. Why don't you just tell me and just get over with this?"

"Because the powerless me is the one that sets everything in motion. It has to be that me."

"Okay, let's see. I have no powers, I haven't seen Chloe for five years. So, something that happened before I moved… the day I met her…? No, we were too young and I don't remember every detail. Plus it has to be something weird… I don't know." Max frowned again "I got it!" she announced after a few moments "One night, it was probably our first or second sleepover. There was this huge storm outside, and I was very scared. Chloe turned around and hugged me and we fell asleep like that. I remember thinking that I felt safe, protected and that I would like to feel this way forever. I think... I think I started to like Chloe that night even though I wouldn't know what that meant until many years later."

"Right answer. A storm it is."

"Something else I should know?" Max asked, already looking forward to starting her new adventures.

"Nothing that really affects you, but I'll have you know that time is complicated," Other Max replied by making a gesture with her hands. "To make it more understandable, let's say that it doesn't like changes. In this first life, I will make many changes during this week and the days immediately after, and then in my first jump, I will introduce a major change. Your second life will be different, but from then on, time will try to return to its previous state. Moving to Seattle, studying photography at Blackwell etc. and that's not what we want."

"That's not what we want?"

"That _We_ stands for you and me." Chloe had been in silence for quite some time, listening intently to the exchange between the two Maxes. She was curious to see how they related to each other, whether there would be any confusion, arguments, or even tension between the two. Thankfully everything had gone smoothly, the Max who had lived a little longer than herself had insisted over and over again that the two of them were the same person, and not for one moment had she succumbed to the possibility of treating her former self with contempt. "What I asked Max for and what she arranged for us was the chance to live many lives together. The paths that those lives might take, before or after the jump, were left out of the equation. All we care about is having each other, the rest is only secondary."

"I can relate to that," Powerless Max nodded.

"It doesn't have to be this way. This setting is the first one and for sure it will always remain very special for us, but it is also a bitter one. William doesn't have to die, I don't have to move, and most of all, Chloe doesn't have to go through all that loss and pain. Time will pull you, it will try to correct itself and bring everything back to the way it was the first time."

"What should I do then?"

"Nothing really. Just be yourself, you know... change everything so nothing changes."

"And once again, I don't understand a thing. I assume that's my cross to bear."

"Max, it's time."

Seasoned Max turned to Chloe, pouty-faced "And obviously, you had to use those exact words."

"Come on, gimme a break. We've won. Over and over again. let me at least laugh at the universe."

She turned again, this time, to her younger version and gently rested her index finger on her forehead. "Chloe has a rather curious sense of humor, but she's still right"

"Max?" asked the one sitting at the desk.

"Yes?"

"I'm not gonna remember any of this, am I?"

"No. If I did, the whole idea behind the Infinite Loop would be meaningless."

"In that case, you've only done all this for me, right?"

"Coming here and sharing this time with my younger self was Chloe's idea, she wanted to give me this gift."

"Hey, that's the first Max I ever fell in love with," Chloe stepped in to justify herself.

"Yes. And I have to admit she was right, this has been amazing," Older Max agreed.

"Yeah... besides, I had my first kiss, and from what little I know, I think it was way better than my previous first kiss."

Chloe looked at Powerful Max with a proud expression on her face. "Told ya, you already had it in you back in the day."

"You two are ruining my day," she protested.

Original Max took one last look at Chloe, and before she dropped asleep she had time to throw out one last line. "See you in a bit."


	3. Neither an end nor a  beginning.

"Aren't you just the cutest thing?"

Chloe stared in delight at Max. She was asleep in what was clearly an uncomfortable posture, leaning the entire weight of her head against her left's hand palm.

"Look at me. I'm only sleeping for a couple of seconds, and when I wake up, everything..."

"For the fucking best."

"Hey," Max took Chloe's hand and raised it, kissing lightly on the back. "This has to be the best present ever. Thank you."

"You know we've been well beyond thank yous for a long time, don't you?"

"I know. Still, this has meant the world." Max bit her lower lip. No matter how many millennia went by, her gestures were still the same. "I remember sitting there," she said, nodding to the desk where the earlier version of herself was sleeping, "all stressed out because I didn't know how to approach you. Suddenly, I find myself staring at the person I would like to be and she comes up with this crazy time travel story. I think I've already gone definitely bonkers, but then she starts talking about you, which gets all my attention. Then the question isn't about time travel or seasoned doppelgangers anymore. You and I are together. One minute I'm not even sure if you want to ever be friends again and the next one we are together in the most unbelievable way… Then you show up and it feels like my whole world lights up... As I said, there's never been a better present."

"It's not that big a deal. This was a textbook win-win. Anyone would have figured out that."

"Say what you want. The bottom line is this could have been a mere formality, but you turned it into one of my most treasured memories."

Chloe glanced at her... and snorted.

As in her partner, her reactions hadn't changed that much because no matter how many different lives or experiences they had been through, they were still Max and Chloe.

"I'm just glad I did it," Chloe replied, regaining her carefree disposition. "Both versions of you deserved it. Dammit, I deserved it, too."

"You know the funniest thing of all?"

"Not for another couple of seconds."

Max shook her head, making it clear that she was ignoring Chloe's comment. "This is a memory I don't carry with me. That is, for the loop to work I shouldn't remember this, and I don't actually remember recovering it every time I get my memories back. Still, in my mind, it's like an old memory."

"Yeah, time travel is fucking weird like that."

"And now you are using my words," Max replied with obvious annoyance.

"Wise words indeed, so why not quote the most impressive person I know?"

"Actually," Max replied by bringing her annoyance up a notch or two, "I really don't know if you're flattering me or mocking me."

"Flattering, always flattering," Chloe displayed her signature devilish grin before adding in a mocking tone. "But of course with my own hella unique twist."

"That sounds more like my girl."

" _ Your girl _ . I haven't heard that one in awhile. I like it. Yeah, I like possessive Max... Heck, who I'm trying to bullshit? I like all Maxes."

"Even the Max who tells you that you already know what comes next?"

"Yes," Chloe responded, visibly shrinking in reaction to Max's words, "even that one."

"Come on, let's go."

Max held Chloe's hand and reached out to a specific time and place.

Every time she regained her memories and with it, her powers, she became more aware of her potential. Still far from understanding the actual inner mechanics of her powers, she felt like she was slowly getting the hang of it. One of the first tricks she learned, at Chloe's suggestion, who had been a computer engineer on that jump, was to build a mental hub. She had insisted that no system, no matter how powerful it was, could operate without a control interface that simplified the use. In that life, Chloe, who could barely manage a couple of working hours a day, devoted her last few weeks to help Max in that direction. Needless to say, that interface had to be a mental construct, since no physical device would have made sense in the hands of a little girl who wouldn't discover she was the most powerful person in the universe until much later in her life.

_ You're approaching this the wrong way, _ Chloe had told her when Max couldn't find a way to simplify matters.  _ If we are here it is because you have already succeeded, and if you have succeeded it is because you will be far more powerful than you are now. Therefore, it is not a question of you adapting to a pre-set system. Instead, create a system that you are comfortable with. It will work because you will make it happen.  _ After the confidence boost from a weak Chloe, all it took was to create the right mental environment.

It was also in that jump when Chloe painfully rose from her bed and spoke in a faint voice,  _ You know the earth moves, don't you?  _ In the face of Max's lost expression, she drew a mysterious smile on her wrinkled face.  _ I bet it would be pretty easy to bubble yourself and adjust it to get back just when that bubble is in the exact location you want to go.  _ And so, with a simple comment from Chloe, Max understood that she was the master not only of time but also of space.

It was a picture because it simply couldn't be anything else. Max's hub was a shifting picture portraying the whole world where she could mentally move through time and space and simply reach for any point.

She could go wherever and whenever she wanted to, but ironically enough, the two girls jumped a very short distance in both frames of reference. They could have walked a bit and waited quietly, but the matter at hand was not a pleasant one and they unspokenly decided to go straight to the point.

"It breaks my heart to see you like this," Max said, still keeping the freeze around them.

Chloe didn't answer. All her attention was focused on the person in front of her. Sitting with her back against the forest sidewall of the pool building, the version of her that belonged in that timeline was, in turn, focused on the object she was weighing in her hands.

David's gun.

Her eyes were devoid of emotion as was her expression, not even a tear was rolling down her cheek. There was no pain or anger, this was defeat. Plain and simple defeat.

"Did you really consider it?"

Chloe took a long time before answering as her eyes reddened at the sight of her life before Max returned to it "Fucking Nathan hit right where it hurts,  _ nobody would ever miss your punk ass _ … Right where it hurts."

"We both know that wasn't the case," Max replied as she reached for Chloe's hand and squeezed it affectionately, "and I'm not talking about me, which you could say I'm a whole different category. Your mother, even David despite your disagreements would have been devastated for your loss, and when you finally decided to open up to more people… Well, you know how it went back then."

"I'll give you that. I became quite the popular figure." Chloe's answer came without hurtful pauses, but her tone was still sullen.

"Right, but that's not what I meant. I was talking about friendship, not popularity. I was talking about Kate, Dana and Fernando, even Warren. People you let in and saw the person you really are. The person I was blessed to grow up with."

Finally looking away from her other version, Chloe turned her attention to Max. "Dude, how come you're still able to know exactly what to say to cheer me up when I'm so messed up… every single fucking time."

"Oh, it's just a matter of practice. You know how it goes."

"Yeah," Chloe declared half-way through, "I know how it goes."

Max nodded almost unconsciously. "This is another point that we didn't get the developers to make right. In the game, there is a big jump from the bathroom scene to the parking lot reunion. We don't know anything about your whereabouts in that couple of hours and at no time is this issue addressed… anyway, out with the gun. Fucking guns, they're nothing but trouble." In a fit of rage, Max ripped the gun out of Chloe's frozen hands and placed it with obvious apprehension in her bag. "You won't remember bringing the gun. The rest of the week needs to remain as it is, but no higher power in the whole universe is keeping me from taking this goddamn thing out of your hands right now."

"Max, nothing was going to happen."

"I don't give a shit. It's bad enough that you're like this. I don't want a fucking gun in your hands when..." Max paused as she realized that she was raising her voice, not that anything was wrong with that because the rest of the planet was frozen, but still. "Look, whether you seriously consider it or not, I don't care. I don't want you even in the vicinity of having that chance while I'm around."

Chloe gave her one of those smiling glances that so comforted Max in her doubtful moments. "Then I guess I'll be safe," she said very slowly, "because I know you'll be around for a long time."

"Yeah," Max replied, suddenly staring at the floor. "I'm planning on that."

"Come on, lighten up, you already knew what was going on. I understand that watching me like this is hard for you. It's hard for me too, but it's part of who I am. It makes me appreciate even more all you did for me in that first life. Max Caulfield, my first and best friend, the person who changed my life forever."

"I can see it," Max shook her head and accompanied that gesture with a snap of her tongue. "I know we won, I know everything's going to be fine, but I can't help feeling a little... sad... I guess… I don't know... there have been lives where you've been in a worse position than this one, it's just that this is your — our — first one and considering everything, it hurts like hell."

"I'm about a couple hours away from being fixed. Try to look at it this way."

"Sure," Max conceded with a shy smile, "and besides, this is not an ending. It's a beginning, but that doesn't take away from the fact that it hurts deep down."

"Just a little longer. Hold on just a little longer." Chloe leaned over her frozen version and gave her an affectionate squeeze on the forearm "Max is coming to save us."

Max imitated the gesture, but instead of a squeeze, she gave Original Chloe a loving kiss on the cheek. "See you in a bit."

"Hey," Chloe protested vehemently, "look who's using someone else's words now."

"Technically, I'm reusing my own words, I don't think that counts."

"You're always using those technicalities to get out of trouble. You've only been a lawyer once, but apparently, it rubbed off on you."

"OBJECTION!" Max shouted amidst contained laughter.

"Oh my God, here we go."

"In the end," Max said after a moment of shared laughter, "we're just two dorks who can't be sad for long."

"It was always like that from day one."

Max nodded silently. She slowly turned and looked around. Blackwell had a strange effect on her, a mixture of revitalization and nostalgia. That had been true the first time they came back, and it was still true now. "Well," she said after a brief sigh, "all said and done I think it's time to..."

"Not yet."

"Did I miss anything?" Max asked, staring at Chloe wondering what was going on.

"Can we go to my room?"

"Your room as in the room of your first version? If it's about the gun, you know we don't need to. It's already under the bed."

"It's something else."

"Sure, no problem." Max shrugged. She still didn't understand what Chloe was up to, but this time there was zero chance for another objection.

As soon as they emerged, Chloe rushed and dropped into  _ her _ bed, letting the mattress briefly wrap around her _. _

_ What a wonderful sensation. _

She tirelessly raised herself up and sat down at the foot of the bed. Max was standing in the middle of the room, looking at her inquisitively, no doubt wondering what exactly they were doing there.

Chloe merely smiled. "God, you're clingy."

"Um..." Max mused, trying to gain a few seconds to sort out her ideas."Is that a question? An official statement? Where does that come from?"

"It's actually a no-brainer… Captain, your Polaroid... Even me, through time and space."

"I don't think what we have can be defined in terms of clingy," Max certified her answer with a slight grimace that clearly showed that she was not too happy with Chloe's claim.

"No, definitely not." Chloe kept the same smile on her face "It was just to emphasize my idea. You're a person who just gets attached to stuff." At this point, she took a long, dramatic pause that Max stoically agonized over. "Let's talk about your first kiss, for example. We both agree on what a disaster that was. What I didn't know until today is how attached you were to that kiss."

"Disaster or not, it was my first kiss and as it happens, it was with the very person it was meant to be. So, yes, I'm quite attached to it… or rather I was since today a certain someone has pulled one of her time shenanigans and changed that."

"Oh…? But have I really?" asked Chloe with all the feigned innocence she could muster.

"Well, let me think..." Max exaggeratedly scratched her chin overacting to counter Chloe's act. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was you who kissed me not an hour ago."

"I beg to disagree."

"Pardon me, what am I missing here?"

"Indeed I have kissed you. I also kissed you on Monday morning which would obviously make that your first kiss, but, and that's where my problems start. Was that Max I kissed back in Blackwell really the Max that belonged in that timeline? I'd say, oddly enough, no."

"That makes no sense at all."

"Sure, but let's start at the beginning. How do you remember that kiss?"

There are reactions that speak louder than words, even when those reactions are purely unconscious. In this case, even without considering it, Max automatically blushed. "It's... it's weird. I remember, but not as a distant memory. I remember feeling totally stunned, but there's a difference between the memory of you walking up to me and the actual kiss. I don't understand how..."

"Have you ever wondered how your powers work, I mean, from a scientific point of view?"

"Not really. Sure I've tried to understand, but I've never been the scientific type and I needed your help. The only times we could have discussed the subject were the jumps when you were a scientist. The problem is that by the very nature of the loop we created, retrieving my memories meant that you were already close to... There was always your weak health, the shock of discovering the truth. I mean, we've always gone towards the emotional side right afterward. I gave you back your memories, and before that, I never had the tools to perform an in-depth analysis."

Chloe arched an eyebrow with a serious frown. "All that talking just to say you didn't."

"Pretty much, yeah," Max answered with a shrug.

"I see." Chloe punished Max again with the whip of dramatic pauses. "I have thought about it, quite a lot actually. As you said, we haven't had a chance to talk about it in any jump because of the very nature of the loop you've created."

" _ We _ created."

Chloe grimaced again "Fine, whatever. I'm gonna make it easy for your unscientific brain. All matter travels through time. All human beings except you, which is a special case, do so, too. What happens is that we move at a very slow speed compared to the speed of light and at that speed, the journey is imperceptible, it just happens without us noticing."

"Why are we even talking about this again?"

"Lemme finish, Ms. impatience. As I was saying, we travel in time but at a very low speed. As we increase the speed and approach the speed of light, the changes in the perception of time begin to be noticed, and once we exceed that speed we are game. There's just one small problem with that. Do you know how much energy it would take to travel faster than light?"

"Let me guess," Max replied, pretending to think hard about the subject, "A lot, maybe?"

"You're right, a fucking ton of it. In fact so much that the exact amount is infinite energy, and there's the problem. There is no such thing as infinite energy. It is a purely theoretical concept, therefore it is impossible to go faster than the speed of light."

"Okay. I am compelled to inform you that I am officially lost. What are you talking about?"

"I can take a huge leap of scientific faith and accept that every cell in your body harbors a strange and unknown source of energy that allows you to travel in time or go faster than the speed of light or whatever it is that makes it work. I'm starting to have problems with your hair and nails, which are basically dead cells, but what I have no way of understanding is that you jump through time with your clothes, your bag, or anything else you are carrying with you, including me. That's simply a scientific aberration."

"Maybe it's because I'm in contact with it."

"Already considered that… and no. To begin with, you are not physically in contact with all your clothes or with what is inside the bag, and if we are following that argument, the one saying that you are in contact with something that is in contact with something else, it's even worse, because your feet are in contact with your socks which in turn are in contact with your shoes which in turn are in contact with the concrete on the street… you get the idea."

"So, what's your point?"

"I have no idea how your powers work. Not me, not anyone else. The point is that our time is limited to my life expectancy. Throughout all our jumps we have had lives in which we have witnessed massive scientific advances, others not so much, but in no case have we come even close to having a theoretical prospect of time travel."

"Chloe, I'm sorry to insist, but I'm not following you. I thought we were talking about the kiss."

"And we are. Look, there's only one thing I can consider myself an expert in, just one thing… you, and I can assure you that the Max I kissed earlier was not the original Max."

"That's impossible" Max widened her eyes in a gesture of sincere amazement.

"I guess, but I've seen much crazier stuff happen before my own eyes. Like this shy, humble girl becoming the most unexpected Goddess only because her partner expressed a desire out loud. I'm already familiar with the impossible, and I can't deny what I know for sure."

"But, why?" Max asked.

"I have no clue," Chloe said with raw honesty "All I know is that in the future you will be able to return to the moment when you granted yourself your powers and take over the body of your first version, keeping her awareness intact and that you will do it probably just because you want our pathetic first kiss to remain being the first… I don't know if you got us into something way bigger or if it's still just us. What I do know is that this is neither an end nor a beginning and whatever it is, it's a path. I want to walk by your side."

Max blushed, again. Surely she would continue to blush for centuries to come every time Chloe spoke so openly about her commitment to her.

"I'd love that," said the shy, humble girl.

"You know how it goes," Chloe answered, "You're going to ask me, although you don't need to, and I'm going to say yes, although I don't need to."

"It's our little dance, and I enjoy it every time, so..."

"STOP RIGHT THERE."

"What's wrong?"

"Remember our first jump together?"

"How could I not remember? It was only our second life together, it was the time that ... Oh shit" Max said when she realized what Chloe was talking about. "Really?"

"You owe me."

"Not sexy nurse again, please."

"Tell me you will at least consider it."

"You know I have no control over that."

"Says the girl who's made time her bitch."

"It's not like fine. I'll try, I promise."

"I'll hang on to that."

"Well then," she said with a slight twinge in her voice, "if all the  _ important issues _ are already settled, it's time to go, are you ready?"

Without further warning, Chloe leaned over Max and kissed her enthusiastically. "Hella ready, Caulfield."

**The end.**


	4. Swansong

I have deliberated at length on whether or not to write this last chapter, and I finally made a decision trying to be not only realistic, but also fair to all of you.

It's not a lake, it's an ocean… of LIS fanfics. I honestly can't expect those stories that have taken me three years to write, to remain fresh for any of you who might have read dozens or hundreds of fics in the time it took me to finish. On top of that, my series isn't particularly easy to follow because it has a lot of time leaps, and ultimately, for someone who reads it all the way through, it is revealed to have a circular structure.

I'm not a writer, nor do I have any honest aspirations to be one. Like almost anyone who considers himself a hardcore reader (and that's me), I have at some point considered writing a novel. I will go a little further and confess that I even have a brief outline. It is a novel that focuses on a hateful character and provides a background to discuss the changes in my country in the 20th century. My idea was to start with a character who crosses the border, fleeing from a pregnant teenager, and enlists in the First World War. That would help me to focus on another subject that is of great interest to me, the Spanish flu (or the great pandemic of 1918 since it didn't originate in Spain). The novel would follow the life of this anti-hero, while he does nothing but survive at all costs, and I'd end up with him as an old man helping nuns to steal babies from impoverished families (yes, that really happened and not only in my country).

And that's it. Consider that. I haven't gone beyond that brief outline for various reasons, and clearly one of them is my own lack of confidence in my writing skills. 

But the point is that I am, above all else, a day-dreamer with a lively imagination and I always have been.

A long time ago I read a novel that is, to put it briefly, a masterpiece.  _ One hundred years of solitude _ , or, in the original version which is the one I read,  _ Cien años de Soledad _ .

This novel has a circular structure, and because I'm a daydreamer, I decided that if I ever wrote a novel it would have a circular structure because I'm an unconscious fool like that, but dreams are dreams… until someone decided it was a good idea to release the first episode of an episodic video game for free, then a certain someone who had overlooked that game read somewhere that it was set in the pacific northwest and had a powerful narrative… and here we are.

So, for the sake of clarity, I'm going to outline how the Infinite Loop series works.

\- Numb is the first entry in the series and is originally about Max's life in Seattle. As I was not sure if I would ever write another story, I tried to introduce other themes such as parenthood and also experimenting briefly with non-linear narratives (the whole of Max's first date scene being told as a conversation between friends the morning after). This part encompasses the first thirteen chapters. 

In chapters 14 to 16, we take a peek into their lives many years later. It is written as something gentle and funny, even crazy at some point, as a counterpoint to Max's suffering in the first part. It goes unnoticed in this context, but we witness a moment that becomes the foundation for the whole series. Chloe tells Max that she wishes she could live many lives with her.

\- Infinite Loop, which is named after the series itself, is a short story in which many new developments are revealed. The first chapter starts on Chloe's deathbed. We discover that Max never lost her powers, instead, she lied to Chloe pretending to not have them anymore in order to protect their life together. We follow a Max who's been wondering about her powers for years before finally making up her mind. She decides to jump back in time to save Chloe. The second chapter is about Max and Chloe's second life together. The beginning tries to be a surprise as far as Max's jump is concerned (only you can decide if I pulled it off) and the rest is Max realizing the true meaning of her powers and embracing the consequences.

\- The Leopard. It's a re-do of the week, fic… and it's my finest hour. And it's not that it's been more successful than all the other stories put together, it's just that better or worse written, it's my voice. I've often found myself reading a great fic, and thinking, I wish Max would say this thing or do that other thing. I'd like the first Chloe´s truck scene to be like this, etc. The Leopard is basically that, all my wishes put together in one story. Max taking control and doing everything I'd like her to do in every scene. Add to that some story twists I would have enjoyed in a re-do week, diverse references ranging from stand by me to war games (I liked this rounders line so much  _ Listen, here's the thing. If you can't determine who's the sucker in the first 5 minutes of sitting down, then you are the sucker _ that I made Max tell Jefferson something similar) and that’s the story.

Apparently it has nothing to do with the Infinite Loop, but in The Unexpected Goddess, it is mentioned that it's indeed an important jump, because it's the jump that breaks the storm cycle and their next lives are totally different from then on.

Finally, the name refers to Tomasso di Lampedusa's novel, Il Gatoppardo, which created the political doctrine called leopardism, a doctrine that basically implies that every few years, the ones pulling the strings need to change everything so that nothing changes (as in the powerful remain powerful and the poor, poor). In this case, it refers to Max changing all week so that nothing (meaning her relationship with Chloe) changes.

\- The Unexpected Goddess. It's another short story that acts as an epilogue for the whole series. It deals with the moment that Max grants herself the powers. We travel to that moment and discover some more interesting facts (like that this world and the original game are merely Chloe's prank). It doesn't offer all the answers, but rather raises many more questions by revealing that the Infinite Loop goes much further. 

It does leave the characters right where I want them. Eternally finding and falling for each other, so it serves its purpose.

Rest assured, then. This isn't Max and Chloe's swansong, but mine.

I know you can never say never, but I honestly think this is all there is to it. I've been writing for 3 years and I don't regret not one minute of it.

These stories about two teenage girls in love (imagine this being said with a huge eyebrow arch from my wife) have offered me more personal satisfaction than probably my entire professional career, which on the other hand has not been bad at all. I do not complain about my work, and indeed I consider myself in a good place in that respect, but no one has ever told me that any of my work has moved them on a personal level as these stories did. I have received PMs that have made me feel proud as not even the most complicated of the tasks I have had to manage has made me feel.

I think that's a feeling that many of the fellow writers in this place will understand (OK, I just called myself a writer), but everything has a beginning and an end and I suppose mine has arrived.

I have a thorn in my side, though. Is called Major Leagues and it's a story that totally falls into the humorous side where Max and Chloe were a couple before Max moved, Chloe becomes a swimsuit model and everyone (literally everyone and that includes a Kate who selectively stutters when she sees her) is totally mesmerized by her.

It is fully developed, with detailed descriptions of the chapters and what happens in each of them… but no. At least for the time being and with a good chance of being a definite no.

Anyway, time will tell, I have another project going on right now and... well, we'll see.

Regarding the future of the LIS series. I would love to see more of Max and Chloe, be it a new game, a movie, or whatever, as long as the people behind them truly understand and care for the characters (and it is Pricefield, because it NEEDS to be Pricefield)

There's only one thing left to say.

Thank you all, it's been a pleasure.

**Final note.**

I could say that  _ life is strange _ , but that would be too easy. Let's just leave it at  _ things happen. _

I had just finished proofreading (what I call proofreading, at least) the third chapter of TUG and was putting the finishing touches to the last one when I received a PM on FFNET. Someone had been concerned about my note at the beginning of Numb and offered to edit my stories.

That person is user Ipomia and they have already edited TUG. Their contribution has been invaluable because there are places I just can't reach, and I can't tell the difference between a sharp breath and a deep breath.

Apparently they are interested in editing the rest of the Infinite Loop stories, which, at the same time, seems like a huge job for them and a dream come true for me.

So maybe in a while there will be an improved version of Numb, Infinite Loop and The Leopard floating around.

In the meantime, you can enjoy this story and if you are interested in a new story with excellent writing and an exciting plot Ipomia´s Pale it´s already up both in Ao3 and FFNET.


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